Karen Preuss moving to New York!

Karen Preuss has announced that she will be leaving her position as manager of the Elisabeth C. Miller Library and moving to New York.

It’ll be sad to see her not be there anymore when I come into the library during my breaks and chat with the librarians. I can hear Karen from the lobby of Merrill Hall and she always makes everyone who visits the library feel welcome. She always manages to bring a smile to my face and never fails to get a laugh out of me when she comes up with a quick comeback to something I say or teases me when I come in, “Oh, it’s just RIZ again…(rolls eyes).”

I first met her when I came into the new library after returning from China. Karen introduced herself and, instantly, I felt like she had fit in like a glove and seemed to have gelled well with the familiar faces of the Miller Library. With her tremendous fund raising and library experience, she took the library to a whole new level by promoting our institution in a way that has made it a nationally, if not worldwide, recognized horticultural library. She had also organized the hugely successful Spring Book Sale that has been well attended in the past two years in has taken place.

Karen is such an enthusiastic and caring woman who has befriended so many people in the horticultural community here, it wasn’t a surprise to attend her farewell party to see the meeting room packed with UWBG staff, faculty, and numerous guests including the president of Northwest Horticultural Society, Nita-Jo Roundtree. NW Hort celebrity, Richie Steffen, was also in attendance with his parents who I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with about their wildly successful and incredibly handsome son. (Mrs. Steffen, are you reading? heheh)

Our best wishes to you Karen. Do stay in touch and remember your impact on Pacific Northwest Horticulture! We’re very grateful for all that you’ve done!